Tornado cleanup expected to stretch for weeks

Municipal leaders in suburbs slammed by the tornado late Sunday say it likely will take weeks to clear debris from the neighborhoods hit the hardest.

For now, roving crews in Naperville, Woodridge and Darien are doing their best to clear piles of debris caused by the EF3 tornado that had peak winds reaching 140 mph, National Weather Service meteorologists said.

“We're still in the process of doing damage assessments,” said Jim Hoff, a management analyst and public information officer at the Woodridge Police Department. “We have more than 100 structures that have been deemed uninhabitable or have significant damage.”

Key to a quicker cleanup, officials said, is separating construction debris from tree debris.

“Those are two different types of pick ups,” said Linda LaCloche, Naperville's director of communications. “We're reminding residents to create separate piles at the curb.”

Crews from neighboring towns are also assisting in the cleanup efforts, officials in the stricken towns noted. Private companies are also sending out volunteers teams to help clear roads and yards, as well as help remove damaged trees and branches.

“Numerous communities have supplied us with workers and equipment,” said Bryon Vana, city administrator in Darien, where about 10 homes were damaged, two heavily.

Vana expected at least “this entire week” will be devoted to cleaning up the damage caused by the tornado.

Naperville will collect brush left at curbside through July 3 on much of the town's southern end. Homes south of 75th Street, between Plainfield-Naperville Road and Yackley Road are being targeted by cleanup crews, city officials said. The special pickup area extends as far south as Royce Road, according to a city news release. The brush does not need to be cut or bundled.

A special garbage pickup is also being planned and will be announced later.

Naperville officials are also keeping crews out until 8 p.m. for several nights, as well as fire department teams, to help residents in need of assistance.

Hoff said Woodridge officials are planning to deliver the flyers door-to-door in the affected areas to help keep residents informed of cleanup plans.

For now, many city officials are urging residents to hold onto any items they find that might be of actual or sentimental value to someone.

LaCloche said Naperville leaders had discussed setting up a “lost and found” site somewhere for such items to be deposited, but nothing had been solidified.

“We talked briefly about that and how we would approach that, but haven't come up with a plan yet,” she said. “I saw an email come through that someone's cousin in Brookfield found something they believe came from Naperville, so there must be something identifying it as being from here.”